History

Our story

It all started when the late Haj Mohamed Ali Zainal Abdulla came back from India after spending many years there trading and exporting rice, tea, spices, clothes and some construction material to Bahrain and the rest of the Gulf States, his mind was obsessed with the thought of specialization.

In 1930, he launched his own company to continue the business he was doing in India. Bahrain was on the verge of discovery of oil and an economic boom. The black gold gushed out of the first well in Bahrain in 1932 and this was an indication of the commercial movement which started in Bahrain due to strategic location. In a short period, small enterprises mushroomed and the demand for main food stuffs increased. Haj M. A. Zainal with his sharp insight directed his attention to specialization and chose to expand in the foodstuff trade to fulfil an existing need of the consumers. With the continuous development in the region and its openness to the world markets, importing from India alone no longer satisfied the needs of the different classes of consumers. This urged Haj Mohamed to extend his activity to import from other countries such as Europe, the Americas, Australia and the countries of South East Asia. When his son and his nephew joined him in business, they supported his ambition to build a strong base for the establishment which he had founded and on which he had spent all the years of his youth to earn the confidence of the people.

In the middle of the 1970's before his death, his talent of specialization and innovation created the trademark "MAZA" that came of the initials of his name (Mohammad Ali Zainal Abdulla). The company became one of the firsts in the region that registered a trademark of its own in 1975. This mark is on many products of high quality and packaging that satisfy the consumers. The company expands annually by increasing the number of suppliers and source countries of goods - like vegetable oils from Singapore and the UAE, green peas and kidney beans from the UK, tissue paper from Japan, Basmati rice from India, macaroni from Greece and chickpeas from Spain. All these foodstuffs enjoy good quality under one trademark - MAZA. When the founder died and his son Ebrahim Zainal took charge of the establishment, the import operations branched out and everybody followed the same steps of the founder in his style of specialization and creativity. The management of the company adopted the latest marketing styles in advertising and promotion. All this gave the trademark local fame so that it was able to win the confidence of the consumers not only in the market of Bahrain but also in the markets of Kuwait and Qatar and other countries in the region. The management was keen to maintain the high level of quality and compatibility with the local, regional and international specifications, so they frequented international specifications, and communicated with the companies specialized in the consumer and food industry so as to choose the best quality and at the same time keep the prices affordable for everybody. The company with its experience, good reputation and marketing abilities could win the confidence of many multinational companies, to be chosen as their agent in Bahrain to market their products. Moreover, MAZA is the agent for "COAST" milk products from Holland, "SEVATH" tomato paste from Greece and "NEZO" table salt. MAZA has been the agent for some companies for more than 30 years.

MAZA headquarters is located in the centre of Al-Manamah, the capital of Bahrain, in a small street in the city market. This street still carries its old name - The Street of Traders - because it was the nerve of the economic life and commercial activity in Bahrain in the past. In this street you can find the big establishments of foodstuffs and among them is Mohammad Ali Zainal Abdulla Est.(MAZA), still working from its first office. The company has modernized its departments and has also computerized its operations. It is generally dependent on highly trained labour. At the same time it uses the traditional style in dealing with customers whose ancestors were customers many years ago.